Kevin Kennedy and Nat Robinson announce that Barbara Hansen, SVRS Director, is retiring from state service on January 3, 2011.

This is a wonderful opportunity for Barbara to spend more time with her family, but it leaves a significant void in our office as well as the impact her departure will have on the many people she has so diligently supported in local election offices, the Legislature and state government in her 21 years with the State Elections Board and the Government Accountability Board.

Barbara directed the design, implementation and ongoing operations of our Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS), but she has served the agency and its customers in many roles before the HAVA requirement for “a single, uniform, official, centralized, interactive computerized statewide voter registration list defined, maintained, and administered at the State level that contains the name and registration information of every legally registered voter in the State and assigns a unique identifier to each legally registered voter in the State.”

Barbara began her career as an elections specialist after serving as a deputy clerk in the Town of Delafield in Waukesha County. When Gail Shea left in 1996 she was promoted to the campaign finance and elections supervisor position.

Barbara has a national certification from the Election Center and Auburn University as a Certified Election and Registration Administrator (CERA) – one of a small group of individuals who have attained that distinction in the country. Barbara also served on the Steering Committee of the Council of Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL). Barbara has been a member of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association since 1986, beginning her long relationship with local election officials.

Her impact on election administration is significant in Wisconsin as well as the national level, but it is in our offices where she has been a trusted colleague with unparalleled knowledge about the agency’s responsibilities as well as a valued friend.

We wish her, John and their son Christopher all the best as we lose daily contact with one of our family.

We are planning a "salute" to Barbara in late January and will share with you the details in a separate communication, for those of you who may want to participate in the festivities.